Spark and throttle control



L. M. LIGGETT SPARK AND THROTTLE CONTROL June 24 1924!.

Filed Jan. 8. 1923 2 Shuts-Shut 1 L/uli it June 24, 1924. 1,498,140

| M. LIGGETT SPARK AND THROTTLE CONTROL 13 I 14;, I 11 5. 26 Q grwenl'oz Lu LL 13 m w Mvm attowew PatentedJune 24, 1924.

7 UNITED STATES LUTHER M. LIGGETT, OF GALION, O'I-IIO.

SPARK AND THROTTLE CONTROL.

Application filed January 8, 1923. Serial No. 611,288.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LUTHER M. Lreonrr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ga lion, in the county of Crawford and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spark and Throttle Controls, of which the following is a specification.

The and throttle control and has for its object to provide a novel mounting for the throttle and spark levers, whereby a convenient, compact and protected construction is provided.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a device of this character which is com-' paratively simple and inexpensive in its construction, which provides for an accurate movement of the control levers, which has a compensating connection between the control levers and the respective tubes so that the control levers will still move in the same plane even though the tubes may spring or be thrown slightly out of alinement, and which completely houses and conceals the connections so that proper operation of the device will not be prevented by accumula- Qtions of moisture and dirt on the interior thereof.

With the above and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain combinations and arrangements of the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof'being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a control device which is constructed in accordance with the invention, the control levers being shown by dotted lines in the positions as sumed when swung to opposite limits of their movement.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view through the device, said view being taken substantiallyon the line 22 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the device, on the line 3-8 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view-taken substantially on the line 4+4: of Figure 1.

Figures 5 and 6 are detail views of one of the spider elements.

or p d'ng l Pa ts referred.

present invention relates to a sparkto in the following description and indicated on all of the views of the drawings by like reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate one of many possible embodiments of the invention, the numeral 1 designates the base of the control-device, said base being formed of hard black fibre, hard rubber or other suitable material, and having a depression 1 in the bottom thereof which is of a suitable size and depth to receive the usual steering post nut when the base is assembled on the steering wheel. A recess 1 is formed at the top of the depression 1 and receives a metal bottom plate 2 which is swaged upon or otherwise securely fastened to the support tube 3.

The top of the base member 1 is formed with an upstanding annular rib 4, and rotatably mounted upon the base member is a ring 5 which carries the throttle lever 6. This ring is provided at the top and bottom thereof with annular grooves 7. The downwardly facing groove 7 of the ring loosely receives the rib 4 of the base 1, while the upwardly facing groove 7 receives the downwardly extending annular rib 8 of the intermediate guide plate 9, said intermediate plate being also formed with a similar upwardly projecting rib 8.

' The throttle lever ring 5 is provided upon the inner periphery thereof with a pair of recesses 10 which loosely receive the arms of a spider member 11. The hub portion of the spider member is shown as having the inner periphery thereof serrated so that it can be swaged or forcibly fitted upon the upper end of the throttle tube 12. The free ends of the spider 11 loosely engage the recesses 10 of the ring so that there is in effect a loose or compensating connection between the throttle lever ring and the throttle tube. The throttle lever ring is closely confined between the base 1 and intermediate guide plate 9, and is accurately guided byengagement of the ribs 4 and 8 with the annular groove 7 thereof, so that it always turns in the same plane and has an accurately defined path of movement. This will not be disturbed even though the spider may be canted with respect to the tube or the tube may be somewhat sprung out of alinement.

Arranged above the intermediate guide plate 9'is the spark lever ring 13 which is som a sim ar in acast en to 9 1'? throttlelever ring .5, hein'gfprovided with a downwardly facing annular groove 14 which engages the upper rib 8 of the intermediate plate 9. The spark lever is carried by the ring 13 and provides a means for rotating the same. Th'einneriperiphery of the spark lever ring 13 is recessed to receive the arms of'a spider "Inmher 16 whichis substantially identical in construction with the spider "member 11, having the inner "periphery or the hub portion thereof serrated so that-it can beswaged for driven tightly iipon the upper "end of tlie'spark'tube The sparkleverriirg :13 15 "is accurately fgui de'd i'n its movements" and "turns" in "a fiiied'plaiie, 'andthe spider incinber16 provides "a Floo's'e or fcoinpehsating between the said ring and the spark 1 tube 17 so that the accurate move- "mentfot the "ring will notice 'chari-gedeven th' ugh. the spider "member "ma have a :c'ant'ed relatio'n'to the tube "or i the tube may "befsprung s mewhat out "(if "alinmefit.

"top. plate 18 isar'raiiged abo've the "spark lever ring 13 and "engages the top thereof. A pair of tie bolts 19 "cenn'eet the "top plate l8to'the bottom plat'eQ, extending through suitable openings in the intermediate"guide plate 9 "and the ba'se 1. The lower ends of {the 'tie bolts ;19 are threaded so that they can besc'rew'eddiifectly into fthe corresponding openings in the bottiiinf plate :2, and nuts 20 which are fitted juponfthe lower ends of the boltsfen'gage the top of the 'base 1 so "that the said base clamped bet'vveen'the' nutsan'd the bottom pl'ate. .An upper set"of="nuts 21 are screwed upon the upper extremities of theti'ebolts 9, and after the nuts 'havebeen'prop'erly "adjusted a nut lock plate '22 is placed in f position. This plate has openings which. coi res'pond in size "aiidsh-ape to th e'jpolyg oiial nutsand engage the nuts to prevent rotation thereof. r I] cap fm'ember 23 which is preferably 'forn'i'ed "of the same material as the base .l'fits "over the top of the chnt'rbl device, having theinterio'r thereof "recessed and ithrteacledQas at'Q l, so that it can bescrewed upon the top'plate 18, A'shoulder 25'then engages'tlie nut lock plate 22't'o 'hold the dplate in Zpositi on. It will also be noted that an intermediatering '26 of thesame n ater ial as the base rage capmember 23 surround f the intermediate guide plate 9 I is :interpo sed between the throttle lever and, thespa-k' reverting 1'3, so' th-at the I ter ier 6f the device "lia s "a continuous "sniooth serrat i Tlie 'tii'p ofthe'eap mber- 23 is formed ral ope rigwhichrec'eives the button 27 whi'ch isl'intended to ricfh'dfn or other signal meinher'with'wliich the*vhicle isequipped. T e P P 9 bu t n is formed Wi n over-hanging sides oi the button.

and downwardly inclined flange 27 which cooperates with an up standing boss 23 at the top or" the cap member to prevent rain or moisture from entering theintrior of the device around the The inner end of the button 27 has a plate 28 secured thereto in a'suitable inanneras by means of the screw 29 and the edges of the plate roject beyond the sidesof the button and cooperate withan inwardly facing shoulder 30 on the cap member 23 to limit the outward-movement of the button. A spring 31 which has the upper end thereof engaged by thesc'r'ew 29norm'ally tends topush the butto 1py. u h when thello'u'tton is torcibly moved inwardly against the action'of tl1espring,the head of the screw 29 constitutes a contact member which is brought 'into engagement with an opposed'eontact 32 carriedby an insulating washer 33 which is applied to the upper end of an electric cable 34. This cable passes through the spark tube 17, and it will be noted that the top plate 18 is formedwith-a' central opening which loosely receives the upper end of the spark tube. The insulating washer 33-has a sutliciently large diameter so' that the edge portions thereof extend beyond the sparkt'ube and rest upon the 'nut lock plate 22. The contact member 32 is thus insulated, while the spring 31 engages some :part such as one oi the nuts 20, so that it. is'grounded. It will accordingly be understood that whenthe button 27 is pressed downwardly and the two contacts brought into engagement, the electric circuit willbe closed and the horn or other signal device sounded.

Thedevice will'be mountedupon the'top of the steering wheel hub and 'Willbe arranged. in a very convenient position for manipulation by the driver of the vehicle while steering the same. The spark and throttle'levers' are accurately guided in their movements and the. two levers are fpreferably inclined upwardly on different angles so that the tree ends of the levers will be inthe sametransversc plane, this being preferably aplane corresponding to the top of the steering wheel. This. is a feature which will facilitate manipulation of the control members. While the device can be 1 easily taken apart or assembled, the interior "parts "of the mechanism 1 are completely housedf's'o that'they are-protected against accumulation s of ,dirt and I moisture.

TVhile one particular embodiment of the invention hasbeen-illustrated and described :in detail, it 'will beunderstood that I do not restrict myself thereto, since -m'anyfmodi- .fications and -'-changes "can 'be made-in the details of construction ,without departing from the spirit ot the invention or the scope of the claims,

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. A motor vehicle control including spaced rotary rings having a common axis and provided with independent finger levers, means for guiding the rings in their rotary movements, concentric rotary members at the axis of the rings, and compensating connections between the said concentrio rotary members and the respective rings.

2. A motor vehicle control including spaced rings having a common axis and provided with independent finger levers, the inner peripheries of the rings being notched, means for directing the rings in their rotary movements, concentric rotary members at the axis of the rings, and spiders applied to the concentric rotary members and having arms thereof loosely received within the notches of the respective rings. 7

3. A motor vehicle control including spaced rings having a common axis and provided with independent finger levers, an intermediate plate engaging the rings to guide the same in their rotary movements, concentric members arranged at the axis of the rings, and spiders applied to the respective concentric members and having a compensating engagement with the respective rings.

4. A motor vehicle control including spaced rings having a common axis and provided with independent finger levers, an intermediate plate, base and cap members, connecting means between the base and cap members to hold th parts together, the intermediate plate being provided with means for engaging the rings to guide them in their rotary movements, concentric actuated members at the axis of the rings, and compensating connections between the actuated member and the respective rings.

5. A motor vehicle control including spaced concentric rings provided with independent finger pieces, an intermediate plate between the rings, top and bottom members, connecting means between the top and bottom members, the members in engagement with the rings having a rib and groove connection therewith to direct the rings in their rotary movements, concentric actuated mem-:.

bers at the axis of the rings and spiders ap plied to the respective actuated members and having the arms thereof in a loose engagement with the respective rings.

6. A motor vehicle control including a rotary member provided with a finger piece, members engaging both faces of the rotary member and cooperating therewith to direct the rotary member in its movements, a fastening element connecting the said members to each other, locking means for the fastening member, a removable cap piece holding the locking member in position, and an actuated member arranged at the axis of the rotary member and operatively connected thereto.

7. A motor vehicle control including a rotary member provided with a finger piece, an actuated tube at the axis of the rotary member and operatively connected therewith, guide means for the rotary member including a cap piece, a button mounted upon the cap piece, a conduit extending through the actuated tube, and opposed con tacts operatively connected to the conduit and button.

8. A motor vehicle control including a plurality of spaced superposed rotary members concentrically arranged and having independent finger pieces, guide means for the rotary members, concentric actuated tubes arranged at the axis of the rotary members and operatively connected thereto, a cap piece applied to one of the guide members, a button mounted upon the cap piece and arranged opposite the ends of the concentric actuated tubes, an electric cable extending through the said tubes, and contact means actuated by the button for controlling the electric circuit.

9. A motor vehicle control including a rotary control member provided with a finger piece, guide means engaging the control member to direct the rotary movements thereof and including a threaded plate, a cap member screwed upon the threaded plate, a tubular actuated member arranged at the axis of the control member and opera tively connected thereto, an electric cable extending through the tubular member, a button mounted upon the cap member opposite the end of the tubular actuated member, and contact means actuated by the button for controlling the electric circuit.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

LUTHER M. LIGGETT. 

